#20. Inside Out
This movie is about happy 11-year-old Riley, but whose world turns upside down after moving with her parents to San Francisco. Being uprooted from her Midwest life brings about all sorts of strange adventures to her emotions.
There’s a theory that Riley was adopted, and here’s why. At the beginning of the film, we see Riley’s mom standing in front of her baby moments after being born. However, if she had been the one who had given birth, she would’ve been lying down in the hospital bed instead of standing up and looking fully rested.
#19. Ice Age
This movie may not be about the last ice age, but about the future instead. Here’s the thing: in the first film, a few humans are seen, but humans didn’t exist in the times of the ice age! This is why some fans believe that the film is set in a distant future in which an ice age is brought on by a nuclear winter and most humans have gone extinct.
If this were the case, this means that the movie is set in a future where humans have resurrected dinosaurs and built space ships. The remaining humans that are left on Earth have to live like cavemen in the harsh environment. It’s a bit twisted, isn’t it?
#18. Frozen, Tangled, The Little Mermaid And Tarzan
Pixar fans always come up with weird theories about the movies belonging to the same universe, and it seems like Disney fans didn’t want to be left behind! Some Disney nerds believe that Elsa and Anna’s parents die in a shipwreck on their way to Rapunzel and Flynn’s wedding.
The sunken ship we see in The Little Mermaid is that same ship. But this is not all! It turns out Elsa and Anna’s parents didn’t really die but got stranded on an island. And then they had a boy and named him Tarzan!
#17. Home Alone
There’s a popular theory that Macaulay Culkin’s Home Alone character, Kevin McCallister, grew up to become Jigsaw, John Kramer, from the Saw horror movies, and it does make some sense. Just hear me out.
Young Kevin did design all those traps that could have killed the robbers, so who could deny that he could’ve grown up to design more complex and twisted traps? This theory was never confirmed, but director James Wan did react to it!
#16. Frozen
Hans goes from kind and charming to a hungry-power villain right after the trolls sing Fixer Upper. Coincidence? I think not! The trolls turn Hans evil because they want their child (Kristoff) to have his happy ending with a princess.
This “troll curse” theory explains why he stopped being dashing and charming all of a sudden, the trolls wanted him out of the way. Turns out he was being manipulated by the real villains!
#15. Up
A heartwarming movie about fulfilling lifelong dreams was sure to spur some theories about what this journey meant. When an elderly widower (Carl Fredricksen) had had enough and ties thousands of balloons to his house to fly away to South America, he inadvertently takes an earnest boy named Russell with him.
But some believe Carl died in his sleep the night after he returns from court with the order to vacate his house, and everything that happened after represents his journey through the afterlife. Russell was actually an angel guiding him to heaven!
#14. Wall-E
The adorable robot seems to be the only robot left standing on Earth, isn’t it strange? We already know that the robot is very unique because of the way it performs his work, as it seems to refuse to crush certain objects and keep them as treasures.
So maybe being bad at its job was only the beginning… What if it actually went rogue and exterminated all the other robots? This explains why there are all these spare parts lying around. Next is one of our favorites, you won’t look at the next movie in the same way after reading the following theory!
#13. Mary Poppins
The magical story of the world’s favorite nanny flying out of the windy London skies and into the homes of mischievous children may have an interesting explanation that connects it to another beloved franchise. What if Marry Poppins was actually a Time Lord from Doctor Who?
Her bag is way bigger than what it appears to be from the outside, much like the T.A.R.D.I.S., and she can talk to animals, too. This also explains why she looks different in the movie sequel since Time Lord’s regeneration results in a complete physical change!
#12. Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
There’s a mind-blowing theory that connects this movie about a poor but hopeful boy who gets a golden ticket to visit a chocolate factory, with Snowpiercer, a Korean ice-age dystopian science-fiction film.
The theory was created by you-tuber Luke Palmer, and he makes a surprisingly compelling case! The main idea is that Charlie Bucket inherited the Wonka fortune and grew up to be Wilford, the savior of humanity with his massive train.
#11. Cars
The computer-animated road-comedy is set in a world populated by anthropomorphous vehicles where a hot-shot race-car named Lightning McQueen takes an unexpected detour on his road to success. But how did the world end up being ruled by cars?
The theory states that Cars is an unofficial sequel to Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive, film based on his short story Trucks. It seems that in Trucks, vehicles come to life and turn against their makers. So in Cars, they succeeded and finally took over the world.
#10. Monsters, Inc
When Sulley and Boo play hide-and-seek, Sulley is amazed by how good she is at hiding. Boo seems to just disappear and reappear in another spot! But what if Boo was actually a younger Violet from The Incredibles?
That would explain why she is so good at hiding, she is actually turning invisible when they are looking for her. It also explains why she is so comfortable with Sulley since that large, hulking image probably reminds her of his dad!
#9. My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbor Totoro is a heartwarming, sentimental Japanese animated fantasy film that both children and adults find fascinating. The strange towering creature they meet in the forest may seem adorable, but to some people, Totoro may not be so harmless
There’s a theory that Totoro represents death collecting the souls of those who passed away. So when Mei disappeared near the end of the movie, she might not have survived. And when the sick mother catches a glimpse of Totoro out her window, this would mean that her end is near too.
#8. Finding Nemo
The most popular fan theory among the Finding Nemo theorists is that Nemo doesn’t exist. At the beginning of the movie, when a barracuda attacks Marlin’s entire clown-fish family, Marlin is knocked unconscious.
When he wakes up, he is so distraught over losing his whole family that he imagines that a single son survived the tragic event. This adds up if you consider that “Nemo” means “no one” in Latin.
#7. Winnie The Pooh
An article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal diagnosed each of the main characters with range-F clinical, personality and psychological disorders. Eeyore is clinically depressed, Piglet has a generalized anxiety disorder, Owl is Dyslexic and Tigger has ADHD.
On the surface, it’s an innocent world, as we see Christopher Robin living in a beautiful forest surrounded by his animal friends. But this article changes the perspective and the different animals could actually represent Christopher’s struggles as a child learning to interact with the outside world.
#6. Toy Story 2
We all hate the obsessive toy collector who kidnaps Woody, but what if I told you he might not be the true villain? Remember Wheezy? The toy penguin up on the shelf that has a broken squeaker may not be as innocent as he seems
There’s a theory about Wheezy being the secret villain. After spending months being neglected and forced to watch Andy play with all the other toys from his lonely shelf, he gets jealous and comes up with a plan. Knowing Woody’s heroic nature and that he would definitely try to save a toy in need, Wheezy puts himself in harm’s way and kicks the plot into motion!
#5. Aladdin
Disney’s classic animated movie Aladdin seems to take place in the past, but does it? What if the film is set in a desolate wasteland future? The references that the genie makes to Aladdin’s fashion and how he’s been trapped for 10,000 years are evidence of this. Also, what about the impressions he makes of celebrities like Groucho Marx and Jack Nicholson?
According to this theory, after a catastrophic nuclear war, the Genie was awakened to a post-apocalyptic future were only some Arabic culture survived, which left some technological marvels behind (like flying carpets or genetically engineered parrots) that are now considered “magic.”
#4. The Incredibles
The American computer-animated superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers is one of the best comedies Pixar has released. And it’s not safe from the fan theories, just as every Pixar movie.
So, what if Syndrome from the first movie was actually Jack-Jack? Fans believe Jack-Jack traveled back in time to get revenge on his family after they reject him for losing his powers. It may sound far-fetched but they do look similar!
#3. Peter Pan
The story about a free-spirited and mischievous young boy who never grows up spurred a lot of theories over the years. Fans of the Disney movie have tried to analyze the film based on the play Peter Pan or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, and some have come up with sinister explanations.
The most interesting one states that Peter Pan is flying the spirits off dead children to Neverland. Neverland is actually heaven and the Lost Boys are the ghosts of children who passed and never had the chance to grow up.
#2. Harry Potter
The British-American movies, based on the fantasy novels written by British author J.K. Rowling, chronicle the lives of young half-blood wizard Harry Potter and his friends Hermione and Ron. It was one of the most important stories of our childhood that never failed to entertain us, so of course some theories had to come to light!
According to one of the theories, the entire plot was all a fantasy of a neglected child. Harry was actually just a poor kid living in a cupboard under the stairs, who made up a story about wizards to make himself feel better. A bit heartbreaking, but what do you think?
#1. The “Pixar Theory”
The Pixar Theory connects all of the Pixar movies in the same universe. This fan theory explains the existence of magic, intelligent animals, and even talking cars!
Disney has confirmed that all of the Pixar movies are linked. After years of speculation, fan theories were confirmed! It turns out that the Pixar timeline starts with Brave and ends with Monsters, Inc.